and endless
rounds of applause burst forth, to the great astonishment of the boxes,
and above all, of the minister. He bent forward and bowed gratefully,
but drew back on perceiving that the clapping of hands interrupted the
actors every time they wished to proceed. The King had the curtains
of his box, until then closed, opened, to see what excited so much
enthusiasm. The whole court leaned forward from their boxes, and
perceived among the spectators on the stage a young man, humbly dressed,
who had just seated himself there with difficulty. Every look was fixed
upon him. He appeared utterly embarrassed by this, and sought to cover
himself with his little black cloak-far too short for the purpose. "Le
Cid! le Cid!" cried the pit, incessantly applauding.

"Terrified, Corneille escaped behind the scenes, and all was again
silent. The Cardinal, beside himself with fury, had his curtain closed,
and was carried into his galleries, where was performed another
scene, prepared long before by the care of Joseph, who had tutored
the attendants upon the point before quitting Paris. Cardinal Mazarin
exclaimed that it would be quicker to pass his Eminence through a long
glazed window, which was only two feet from the ground, and led from his
box to the apartments; and it opened and the page passed his
armchair through it. Hereupon a hundred voices rose to proclaim the
accomplishment of the grand prophecy of Nostradamus. They said:

"The bonnet rouge!-that's Monseigneur; 'quarante onces!'--that's
Cinq-Mars; 'tout finira!'--that's De Thou. What a providential incident!
His Eminence reigns over the future as over the present."

He advanced thus upon his ambulatory throne through the long and
splendid galleries, listening to this delicious murmur of a new
flattery; but insensible to the hum of voices which deified his genius,
he would have given all their praises for one word, one single gesture
of that immovable and inflexible public, even had that word been a
cry of hatred; for clamor can be stifled, but how avenge one's self on
silence? The people can be prevented from striking, but who can prevent
their waiting? Pursued by the troublesome phantom of public opinion,
the gloomy minister only thought himself in safety when he reached the
interior of his palace amid his flattering courtiers, whose adorations
soon made him forget that a miserable pit had dared not to admire him.
He had himself placed like a king in the midst of his v